Unraveling the contribution of left-right language on spatial perspective taking

Abarbanell, Linda; Li, Peggy

doi:10.1080/13875868.2020.1825442

Cited by 7 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…Future studies would therefore be desirable to substantiate the present results also in inperson lab environments. Furthermore, it might be interesting to conduct similar studies with children speaking a language in which geocentrically defined axes (e.g., uphill-downhill as in Tseltal language) are used more prominently than projective, body-defined axes to describe small-scale relationships (see e.g., Abarbanell and Li, 2021). In summary, the present study was the first to examine the association between preschool children's spatial language and their numerical skills considering spatial frames of reference in spatial language processing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Children’s use of egocentric reference frames in spatial language is related to their numerical magnitude understanding

et al. 2022

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Numerical magnitude information is assumed to be spatially represented in the form of a mental number line defined with respect to a body-centred, egocentric frame of reference. In this context, spatial language skills such as mastery of verbal descriptions of spatial position (e.g., in front of, behind, to the right/left) have been proposed to be relevant for grasping spatial relations between numerical magnitudes on the mental number line. We examined 4- to 5-year-old’s spatial language skills in tasks that allow responses in egocentric and allocentric frames of reference, as well as their relative understanding of numerical magnitude (assessed by a number word comparison task). In addition, we evaluated influences of children’s absolute understanding of numerical magnitude assessed by their number word comprehension (montring different numbers using their fingers) and of their knowledge on numerical sequences (determining predecessors and successors as well as identifying missing dice patterns of a series). Results indicated that when considering responses that corresponded to the egocentric perspective, children’s spatial language was associated significantly with their relative numerical magnitude understanding, even after controlling for covariates, such as children’s SES, mental rotation skills, and also absolute magnitude understanding or knowledge on numerical sequences. This suggests that the use of egocentric reference frames in spatial language may facilitate spatial representation of numbers along a mental number line and thus seem important for preschoolers’ relative understanding of numerical magnitude.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Children’s use of egocentric reference frames in spatial language is related to their numerical magnitude understanding

et al. 2022

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“…To our knowledge, no studies have investigated whether people find it difficult to discriminate between left and right using gestures as well. However, Abarbanell & Li ( 2020 ) recently found that instructing children to use gestures to discriminate between left and right benefits their performance on a rotation task more than instructing children to say the (Spanish) words (for) “left” and “right.” The authors explain this effect by gestures being directly linked to the spatial properties of a task, similar to our reasoning in the previous paragraph. This direct link between gestures and spatial properties of a task is particularly evident for deictic gestures, like the pointing of participants in our study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Easier Said Than Done? Task Difficulty's Influence on Temporal Alignment, Semantic Similarity, and Complexity Matching Between Gestures and Speech

Jonge-Hoekstra

Cox

Steen³

et al. 2021

Cognitive Science

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Gestures and speech are clearly synchronized in many ways. However, previous studies have shown that the semantic similarity between gestures and speech breaks down as people approach transitions in understanding. Explanations for these gesture–speech mismatches , which focus on gestures and speech expressing different cognitive strategies, have been criticized for disregarding gestures’ and speech's integration and synchronization. In the current study, we applied three different perspectives to investigate gesture–speech synchronization in an easy and a difficult task: temporal alignment , semantic similarity , and complexity matching . Participants engaged in a simple cognitive task and were assigned to either an easy or a difficult condition. We automatically measured pointing gestures, and we coded participant's speech, to determine the temporal alignment and semantic similarity between gestures and speech. Multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis was used to determine the extent of complexity matching between gestures and speech. We found that task difficulty indeed influenced gesture–speech synchronization in all three domains. We thereby extended the phenomenon of gesture–speech mismatches to difficult tasks in general. Furthermore, we investigated how temporal alignment, semantic similarity, and complexity matching were related in each condition, and how they predicted participants’ task performance. Our study illustrates how combining multiple perspectives, originating from different research areas (i.e., coordination dynamics, complexity science, cognitive psychology), provides novel understanding about cognitive concepts in general and about gesture–speech synchronization and task difficulty in particular.

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“…Furthermore, linguistic representations of space are considered to have consequences on other aspects of spatial cognition, such as memory for spatial relations. Scholars argue that knowledge and use of spatial terms enhance memory for spatial relations (Abarbanell & Li, 2021;Dessalegn & Landau, 2008;Gentner et al, 2013;Hermer-Vasquez et al, 2001;Loewenstein & Gentner, 2005;Landau et al, 2011;Miller et al, 2016;Shusterman et al, 2011;Simms & Gentner, 2019). Some of these studies have provided evidence for a positive correlation between children's use of specific spatial terms such as Left-Right (Hermer-Vasquez et al, 2001) and Middle (Simms & Gentner, 2019) and their spatial memory performance.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…So far, only a few studies have addressed these issues. Some of these studies have looked at the effect of encoding space in speech alone or in gesture alone on memory for spatial relations in hearing children (Abarbanell & Li, 2021;Miller et al, 2016). Others have tested whether or not having a language exposure predicts memory for space by comparing deaf children without language exposure to speaking children (i.e., Gentner et al, 2013).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, few other studies provided evidence that training children to use specific spatial terms or prompting them to use spatial gestures to solve a task improves performance accuracy (Abarbanell & Li, 2021;Miller et al, 2016). The current thesis investigates whether the variation in the modality of language encoding (i.e., sign, speech, and speech-gesture combinations) as well as the timing of sign language exposure (i.e., late versus early exposure to a sign language) can modulate the relationship between spatial language use and later spatial memory accuracy for both adults and children.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Development of spatial language and memory

Karadöller

2022

SL&L

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ensures that each member receives interdisciplinary training in the language sciences and develops a well-rounded skill set in preparation for fulfilling careers in academia and beyond. More information can be found at www.mpi.nl/imprsThe MPI series in Psycholinguistics Initiated in 1997, the MPI series in Psycholinguistics contains doctoral theses produced at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. Since 2013, it includes theses produced by members of the IMPRS for Language Sciences. The current listing is available at www.mpi.nl/mpi-series

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Unraveling the contribution of left-right language on spatial perspective taking

Cited by 7 publications

References 74 publications

Children’s use of egocentric reference frames in spatial language is related to their numerical magnitude understanding

Children’s use of egocentric reference frames in spatial language is related to their numerical magnitude understanding

Easier Said Than Done? Task Difficulty's Influence on Temporal Alignment, Semantic Similarity, and Complexity Matching Between Gestures and Speech

Development of spatial language and memory

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